POKHARA, June 11: Members of the Gandaki Province Assembly belonging to the opposition alliance comprising the Nepali Congress (NC), CPN (Maoist Center), Rastriya Janamorcha (RJM) and Upendra Yadav-led faction of Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) have submitted their claim to Province Chief Sita Kumari Poudel for the formation of a new government. 

The alliance has proposed making NC parliamentary party leader Krishna Chandra Pokharel ‘Nepali’ as the new chief minister. Nepali is said to have the support of 31 province assembly members which is enough for him to be appointed as the executive head of the province as per Article 168 (5) of the Constitution of Nepal. 

Apart from NC’s 15 members and Maoist Center’s 11 (excluding Speaker Netra Nath Adhikari), Pokarel is also supported by two members of RJM and 2 of JSP. 

Similarly, Rajiv Gurung aka Dipak Manange, an independent member, too, has extended his support to Pokharel as the new chief minister. Gurung had earlier joined the Prithvi Subba Gurung-led Cabinet. Gurung, however, failed to secure a trust vote on Thursday. 

In the 60-member provincial assembly, a chief ministerial candidate is required to put together the support of 31 members. 

Meanwhile, the RJM sacked one of its members in the assembly, Krishna Thapa from his position as the lawmaker as he defied the party whip during Thursday’s voting on CM Gurung’s trust motion. Thapa stayed neutral.

 
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